LAT buys even more into celebrity 'news'

Believe it not, the Los Angeles Times has decided it doesn't wallow in (and get its ass kicked on) celebrity gossip enough already. The paper's website has moved a copy editor with a chemistry degree (and a background in stand-up comedy) over to start a new blog about...celebrities. How does this jibe with the LAT's official disdain for TMZ? Anyway, here's the hiring memo:

To: The Staff
From: Lisa Fung, Online Arts & Entertainment Editor

Christie D'Zurilla is joining the entertainment team as a blogger for a new celebrity blog on latimes.com. The move is a natural progression for Christie, a former stand-up comic and SAG card holder who has been a copy editor and backstop for the Dish Rag blog since it launched on the site in 2007. In addition to anchoring the blog, Christie will edit
posts submitted by other contributors.

She has worked on the features and entertainment copy desk since 2003, getting her hands on just about every section. She served on the Reinvent team and has been an L.A. Times reader since moving to Southern California in 1983. She joined the newsroom from the Orange County Register, where she was on the features and news copy desks.

Christie was schooled in Hollywood as an insider. In addition to trying her hand as a stand-up, she worked in television and film production and in theme park marketing at Universal. Her restlessness took her in other directions as well. She has a forklift driver safety certification and a real estate license. She also has degrees in journalism and chemistry from USC.

On Twitter, Christie has a following that she hopes will someday break a thousand, not counting that of her dog. (Follow her @dzurillaville. Her dog is @theChiweenie.)